September 23, 2009

Is your LMS Saasy?

Hi, my name is Stephanie Pyle and I’m a SkillPort-aholic.Obviously I’m a little bit biased, but recently as we have rolled out a brand new user interface I’m starting to really love this ‘little LMS that could’.

I completely understand why some companies need to go with much larger systems and we count most of those big players in the LMS space as key partners of ours when it comes to delivering content.But more and more, I’m talking to people who are looking for something easier to deploy, easier to run and easier for their learners to use.At our annual Café event last week I ran a breakout session to discuss the future of SkillPort.Although there were several areas that we want to continue to build out and work on, the feedback from our customers was overwhelmingly positive and those that had already moved to the new SkillPort 7 version loved it.

One thing that makes me such a huge fan is the Software-as-a-Service or SaaS model for SkillPort.This takes the burden of managing the system off of our customers and allows them to really focus on the things that make the most impact in their organization.Josh Bersin recently posted a blog on this topic called “How SaasY is your HR Software Vendor?What does SaaS mean to you?” where he explains what defines a SaaS vendor.At SkillSoft, we have been using this model for over 10 years which I think makes us old-pros in an area that may consider new.

One of the many benefits of our SaaS model is the getting new content loaded into SkillPort.As a customer gets new content, it is automatically updated on the system which eliminates the need for someone to have to manage and load it.And at SkillSoft, our model allows customer to always get new versions of the platforms when they want them.Each version release is made available to all of our customers, but they get to choose the best time for their upgrade.

Over the next few weeks, I plan to discuss other key areas that make me such a SkillPort fan.With a philosophy that you shouldn’t have to train people on how to use their training system, SkillPort is usually worth a look and often fits the bill.